Nights Spent With Other Men
by Gamma Orionis
Summary: Narcissa and Bellatrix had always promised to share their husbands. Written for hprarefest.


**Title:** Nights Spent With Other Men  
**Pairing(s):** Bellatrix/Narcissa/Rodolphus, Bellatrix/Narcissa/Voldemort  
**Prompt:** "Bellatrix/Severus/Narcissa or Bellatrix/Tom Marvolo Riddle/Narcissa; They love sharing the powerful man between them. (Power kink)" for hprarefest 2013  
**Rating:** R  
**Word Count:** 5 300  
**Summary: **Narcissa and Bellatrix had always promised to share their husbands.  
**Warning(s):** Incest, infidelity, coercion to participate in sexual activities.

)O(

Narcissa and Bellatrix had always promised to share their husbands.

They made the promise first when they were very young and arguing over who should be married to which eligible young man of their age. Both wanted Rodolphus Lestrange. Neither wanted Lucius Malfoy.

"He's younger than Rodolphus and you're younger than me," Bellatrix reasoned. "I can't marry a man who's younger than I am."

"I don't see why not! I should be married to Rodolphus so Andromeda can't marry Rabastan and she can be married into a different family – wouldn't Mother and Father want that?"

"The Lestranges are a better family than any of the others who have sons of the proper age. There's only Evan and Antonin, and they're younger, so they'd be better off married to you than Andromeda."

Narcissa stuck out her lower lip and tears gathered in her large, pale eyes. "I can't stand Lucius."

Bellatrix's demeanour softened and she reached out and put her hand on her sister's cheek. Narcissa pouted up at her and she sighed quietly.

"I'll tell you what we'll do, then," she said softly, conspiratorially. "If I marry Rodolphus," they both knew the if meant when, "You can be just like his wife as well. You can live in our manor with us and come to bed with us at night – and if Lucius Malfoy tries to stop you or keep you in his manor for himself…" Bellatrix's eyes flashed dangerously and a small smile curved her lips.

"If he does?" Narcissa whispered, fascinated.

"Oh, I'll take care of him if he does." Bellatrix waved a hand airily but the wicked smile remained. "Don't you worry your pretty head about how."

)O(

When the time did come for Bellatrix to be married to Rodolphus, Narcissa pouted through the wedding ceremony. Bellatrix and Rodolphus made a striking couple, both tall and dark with perpetual looks of superiority about them, and despite the promise that Bellatrix had made, that she and Narcissa and Rodolphus would live together as man and wife and wife, Narcissa doubted that she would be wanted. She was, after all, only Bellatrix's skinny, pallid little sister. She would not complement them.

But after the ceremony, Bellatrix caught Narcissa's arm and whispered in her ear, "Tonight, at our Manor. Ten o'clock sharp. Don't be late." Then she kissed Narcissa's cheek and swept away carelessly and innocently as if she had done nothing more than compliment her little sister's dress.

Narcissa went to their manor that night, and hesitated at the door for a dreadfully long time before knocking. She was certain that, despite what her sister had said, she would be unwanted, and most likely turned away – why would Rodolphus ever want her in his bed when he already had Bellatrix?

But when she finally gathered up all her courage and rang the bell, the door flew open and both Bellatrix and Rodolphus were standing there, lounging against one another and looking down at her. Bellatrix was smiling. Rodolphus looked more curious than anything.

"Cissy," Bellatrix purred, reaching out for her. "Come in. Do come in."

Barely had she crossed the threshold when Bellatrix swept her into her arms. Narcissa felt a brief, intense thrill when her breasts pushed up against Bellatrix's, and then another pair of arms wrapped around her from behind and she was all but crushed in between Bellatrix and Rodolphus.

"Been looking forward to this, Cissy?" Bellatrix murmured, and Narcissa let out a little squeak when she felt a hand between her thighs.

"I have," Rodolphus breathed in her ear. His lips pressed against the side of her neck. Narcissa shuddered slightly, unnerved by the unfamiliar feeling of a man's kiss, and pleased that her first experience was with Rodolphus and not with Lucius. Bellatrix purred softly, caressing Narcissa between her thighs and breathing rather heavily in her ear.

"Come on, then," she murmured, and pulled Narcissa towards the stairs. "I don't want to wait any longer for my wedding night to begin."

Making love with Rodolphus and Bellatrix was an experience that Narcissa could never have hoped to prepare herself for mentally. She knew the mechanics of what a man and woman did together in bed after marriage - at least, the mechanics as they had been explained to her by her mother with heavy euphemism and much evasion of the point - but as a young lady should, she had diligently kept her mind off such matters. She had never given consideration to the details of lovemaking (where hands should go, how to balance oneself in the bed, how many kisses were appropriate and how impassioned they should be) and she had certainly never given thought to the details of how two women should share a man in bed. It was Bellatrix who - quite miraculously, Narcissa thought - somehow knew what to do. Rodolphus seemed as lost as Narcissa, albeit less nervous about his inexperience. He seemed most enthusiastic to follow any and all instructions that Bellatrix gave him, and Narcissa followed his lead and did as her sister told her as well.

"Kiss her, Rod," Bellatrix would say, and Rodolphus would twist around and catch Narcissa in his arms anad kiss her until her mouth bruised. "Cissy, touch me _here_," she would continue, and Narcissa would put her hand on her sister where she indicated, and stroke and caress until Bellatrix moaned in pleasure and ordered her to do something else.

It was, Narcissa thought, something of a relief to be instructed in such detail. If Bellatrix was not giving her orders about what she should do, where she should put her hands and what to do with them, then Rodolphus was. His orders were more sensual and less clinical than Bellatrix's - "Oh, Cissa, just like _that_... kiss your sister for me, Cissa, you look so beautiful when you kiss her." But they were still orders, and as long as Narcissa followed them, she always knew that she was pleasing him.

It was certainly preferable to learn the intricacies of sex this way rather than have to guess what Lucius Malfoy would want from her on the night of their wedding. As time passed, she found herself very nearly looking forward to being married, so confident she became in her understanding of what was to happen between herself and Lucius after their wedding.

"I'll still be able to come to bed with you after I'm married, won't I?" she asked Bellatrix and Rodolphus one night, while the three of them lay entangled between their sheets. Rodolphus and Bellatrix exchanged a glance.

"Of course you will, darling," Bellatrix said, after a moment of silence in which Narcissa's heart must have stopped, so suddenly concerned was she that the answer would be no. "As long as you can get away from Lucius. You'll have to work out how to do that for yourself."

"But we'd never turn you away," Rodolphus murmured. He put his arm around Narcissa's slim torso and drew her close to him. His skin was sweat-dampened and felt rough against hers, and Narcissa felt the familiar thrill of pleasure that she had learned to associate with close proximity to her lovers. "The three of us were meant to be. If we could all three be married, I'd take you both for wives in a heartbeat."

"I would take you both in a heartbeat as well," Narcissa said softly, breathlessly. She turned to Bellatrix and held out her arms so her sister might crawl closer and join their embrace. "Wouldn't you, Bellatrix?"

There was another brief silence, and then Bellatrix said, "Of course I would, Cissy," and she twined her arms about her waist as well, and the three of them pressed together in the tight, three-person knot that Narcissa had come to consider the natural position. Herself in the middle, Bellatrix on one side and Rodolphus on the other, and the sheets wrapped so tightly about all three of them that they could scarcely tell whose limbs were pressed against whose underneath the blankets.

)O(

A year came and went swiftly, Narcissa becoming accustomed to spending her nights with Rodolphus and Bellatrix, and her days being courted by Lucius. This, she thought, was the best way for a woman to spend her life: going between spending hours with an attentive, handsome, thoughtful man, and still more hours with passionate lovers eager to indulge her every whim, on the condition that she would then indulge theirs.

And yet, for all the wonderful things about their lives, Narcissa noted that Bellatrix seemed bored on far too many occasions. She was mechanical in bed, quiet and withdrawn, which were qualities that Bellatrix had never had in the past.

"You're restless, Bella," Narcissa commented one afternoon when they were alone, and Bellatrix sighed and ran a hand through hair.

"It's Rodolphus," she said. "He… he and I have had some… altercations recently."

"What about?" Narcissa asked tentatively. She could sense her sister's discomfort, and part of her remembered that she ought to stop asking difficult questions when her sister started to become uncomfortable. That was the part that had learned proper, ladylike behaviour from her mother. The part of her that had learned from Bellatrix - the part that loved knowing what was happening, loved being confided in, and loved gossip in the way that so many women did yet so few were willing to admit to - stopped her from silencing herself.

Bellatrix sighed heavily. "Only that he bores me."

"Bores you?" Narcissa was profoundly shocked by the idea. If there was any quality that she had never thought that Rodolphus had, it was dullness. He was interesting, exciting, a passionate man from a passionate family with a passionate history. She had always thought so highly of him - and she had been sure that Bellatrix did too; after all, she had done her fair share of proclaiming all his most wonderful qualities. Narcissa couldn't fathom what about him could possibly be boring Bellatrix.

"Yes, he bores me," said Bellatrix, a hint of impatience in her voice now. "He's only an ordinary man - there's nothing special about him."

"Nothing special? But- but he's wonderful!" Narcissa sputtered. She sounded like a lovestruck teenager even to herself, but she could not sit by and let Bellatrix say such untrue things about Rodolphus. "He's handsome and learned and wealthy - and in bed..." She blushed a little. Bellatrix gave her a disparaging look.

"You're such a romantic, Cissy. As if those are the things that a woman should be looking for in a man."

Narcissa bristled. "What do you think a woman should look for in a man?"

"Danger," Bellatrix said, a touch dreamily. "Intrigue. _Power_"

"Power?" Narcissa echoed sceptically. "Who could you possibly know who's more powerful than a Lestrange? The only family with more clout than them is ours, and you can hardly marry another Black - Mother and Father would never have it, not when," she lowered her voice, "not when the family line is being jeopardized by madness already..."

"Oh, Narcissa! I don't mean that sort of power." She stood up and began to pace the room, all agitation. "Narcissa, you just don't understand - you fancy Rodolphus, so you don't see his faults."

"No, I most certainly don't see any faults. He's a very good man. You and I are lucky to–"

"Spare me the lecture, Cissy. Of course you and I are lucky to have him, but that doesn't mean that he's perfect."

Narcissa's throat was beginning to tighten. She was afraid that she might start to cry, though for the life of her she couldn't see what it was about Bellatrix's outbursts that were evoking such a powerful reaction. Only, she thought, the fact that she had become so used to their happy nights together, and if Bellatrix was growing bored of Rodolphus, that would surely mean that things would be over soon. Narcissa couldn't imagine having Rodolphus to herself while Bellatrix was away with another man - she couldn't have stood the sense of emptiness that she was sure would crawl into the bed if there were only two of them in it instead of three.

"Don't cry," Bellatrix sighed. She sat down again and reached out to dab and Narcissa's eyes, where tears had begun to gather along her lashes. "Come on, now, Cissy, I'm only thinking... only thinking that maybe there are men who are more worthy of me... of us... than Rodolphus is."

"Rodolphus is a good man!" Narcissa repeated shrilly. "We couldn't hope for anyone better!"

"We can _always_ hope for someone better, Cissy."

"Have you met someone?" Narcissa demanded. She slapped her sister's hands away and stood up, planting her hands on her hips. "Have you met another man? Is that what this is about?"

Narcissa had expected instant denial. She had expected her sister to say that no, of course she hadn't met anyone else, and even if she had, she would never dream of hurting her marriage - and her relationship with her sister - just because of some whim she had had regarding some other man. But Bellatrix was silent.

"Bella?"

"I suppose you could say that I have," she said at last. "Not an ordinary man, though, Narcissa - not just any man... it isn't as though I'm only interested in him because I've grown tired of you - not at all - he's just..."

"Who is he?" Narcissa demanded. "Who is he, Bella - don't you dare run away from me and Rodolphus without even telling me who you'd run away with!"

"My God, Cissy, I'm not going to run away with him!"

Narcissa pressed her lips together tightly. "How can he be better than me and Rodolphus?" Her voice broke and fresh tears gathered in her eyes. "What would you possibly want with any other man?"

"You would understand if you knew him," Bellatrix said, and she waved her hand evasively, waving off the question, waving away Narcissa and all her concerns. Narcissa was seized by a brief moment of blind rage, and her arm snapped out. She gripped Bellatrix tightly by her wrist.

"But I don't know him," she said, slowly, deliberately enunciating every syllable. "So you had better tell me what's so special about him, that you would say that you'd rather be with him than with me and Rodolphus."

"I never said that."

"I know what you were thinking!"

Bellatrix let out another impatient sigh, and she shook her arm free of Narcissa. "All right. All right! If you're so interested, why don't you come with me and meet him some night?"

"Come with you and meet- some night- you mean you've been going to his home at night? Going to see him at night?" Narcissa spluttered, distraught. There had been plenty of evenings in which she and Bellatrix and Rodolphus had not been together, but she had never thought anything of it.

She had always simply assumed that the nights apart were for her benefit, meant to alleviate suspicion, to stop people from noticing how often Narcissa was not in her bed. But if Bellatrix had been spending those nights apart with another man...

"You're so suspicious," Bellatrix snapped. "If you want to meet him, I'll thank you to stop acting as if I've done something wrong at every opportunity - all I've ever done with him is go to his home at night and talk."

"Talk," Narcissa scoffed, echoing something that she had heard their mother say once. "Talk is what people say they've done when they have a guilty conscience."

"You're so eager to make me feel guilty!"

"Only if you've done something wrong! Only if you've been unfaithful!"

A flush was rising slowly but steadily in Bellatrix's face. Her cheeks had gone quite red and blotchy, and she clenched her hands into fists and glared at her sister. Narcissa didn't think that she had ever seen Bellatrix look so furious, and she almost considered shrinking back and apologizing for the things that she'd said. But she couldn't bring herself to do it - no, she would stand by everything that she'd said, if Bellatrix really was unfaithful.

"I will be going to see him tonight," Bellatrix said, in a voice clearly intended to be deliberately cold, though the effect was marred by the way it shook with anger. "And you needn't come along. But if you want to meet him, and see why I would sooner be with him than with Rodolphus - and believe me, Narcissa, when you see him, you will understand - then I suggest you join me tonight." She stood up. Her hands were clenched into fists. "Of course, if you'd rather just stew over it and believe that I'm just fickle by nature..."

"I'll come," Narcissa interrupted. Her own face felt hot and the tears in her eyes were stinging and angry now. "I want to meet him. But he'd best be absolutely incredible if he's worth even _thinking_ the things you've said today."

"He is incredible." Suddenly, Bellatrix's voice softened and her lips curved into a smile. "He's quite perfectly incredible. You'll see when you meet him."

"I don't believe that for a moment," Narcissa said firmly, but there was a part of her – a tiny, over-curious part – that wondered exactly what sort of man could evoke such a reaction from Bellatrix.

)O(

Bellatrix fetched Narcissa late in the evening, just before sundown. She was practically glowing with excitement and she gripped Narcissa's wrist tightly as she Apparated with her. Narcissa felt sick to her stomach with nerves.

"Don't worry yourself, Cissy," Bellatrix told her. "Just keep your eyes down at first and let me talk to him – he doesn't know that you're with me…"

"You didn't tell him?" Narcissa shuddered slightly. However unpleasant this experience would have been if she were an expected guest, she anticipated it being a dozen times worse if the man who Bellatrix was so eager to share with her didn't even know who she was.

"He won't object," Bellatrix assured her, waving one hand airily. "I've told him about you before – about you and I and Rodolphus…"

Narcissa blushed furiously at the thought of Bellatrix sharing something so intimate with anyone else. _She_ had never told anyone about their relationship. She had, in fact, taken for granted that no one was ever to know about it, though Bellatrix and Rodolphus had never particularly stressed secrecy.

Bellatrix gave Narcissa a quick kiss – very small and chaste, but enough to bolster her spirits slightly – then knocked on the door of the house that they had arrived at. It was small and modest, quite unlike the manors that Narcissa was used to, but handsome in its own way. There was a long and increasingly tense silence after Bellatrix knocked.

When the door swung open at last, Narcissa thought her eyes must be deceiving her.

The man who stood just inside the doorway was one whom she recognized, though she had never met him. His photograph had been in the Daily Prophet for years, and though Narcissa had never read the articles, she knew who he was nonetheless.

"My Lord," Bellatrix said. Her voice went very suddenly breathless and low, and she bowed her head. Narcissa hurried to do the same, her cheeks burning.

"Bellatrix," the Dark Lord said. "I see you've brought company."

"My sister. Narcissa Malfoy." Bellatrix straightened and reached out hastily to draw Narcissa closer to herself and the Dark Lord. "You remember what I've told you about her, my Lord…"

"Indeed I do." He appraised Narcissa, and she dared not meet his eyes. How could she have guessed that it would be something like _this_? She couldn't have known that the man that Bellatrix had spoken so highly of was the Dark Lord, the most prominent figure in all manner of political matters, the man who everyone spoke of in hushed voices, and said was more than human…

"May we come in, my Lord?" Bellatrix asked, and he nodded and stepped aside so they could enter.

The house was not what Narcissa would have expected from a man of the Dark Lord's calibre; that was certain. The outside was modest, but the inside was positively barren. The walls and floors were dark wood, the only light came from a small gas lamp on an end table, and the walls were devoid of paintings or decoration. It was meticulously clean – no dust hung in the air around the lamp – but Narcissa thought it looked abandoned nonetheless.

"Do come and sit down," he said, and Narcissa followed him and Bellatrix into a parlour. The parlour at least looked slightly more lived-in – there were the glowing remains of a fire in the grate, a lamp bright enough to illuminate the room, and several books strewn across a table, along with a quill and pot of ink, and a roll of parchment filled with notes in tiny, cramped handwriting.

Bellatrix perched on the edge of a sofa and Narcissa joined her. The Dark Lord sat across from them in a high-backed wooden chair and looked at them.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Madame Malfoy," he said, and Narcissa felt her cheeks heating again.

"Thank you, my Lord," she murmured. "Bellatrix- Bellatrix did not tell me that you were the man we would be meeting…"

"I take it that it isn't an unpleasant surprise."

Bellatrix spoke on Narcissa's behalf before she could even open her mouth to reply. "Of course it isn't, my Lord. Narcissa is most honoured to be here."

"Let the girl speak for herself, Bellatrix." There was a hint of mild reproach in the Dark Lord's voice, but no anger, and his lips were turned up into a very small, very polite smile that did not waver. "Madame Malfoy?"

"I am honoured, my Lord," Narcissa said immediately. "If a touch surprised. I- I did not know that my sister was... connected to you."

"Ah, Bellatrix." He glanced at her, all amusement. "You've done so well at keeping our relationship private. I thank you."

"I did only as you instructed, my Lord," Bellatrix murmured. "If it is your desire that no one should know about you and I- it would not be my place to tell them. I value you too much to–"

He lifted his hand and Bellatrix abruptly fell silent. Narcissa had never seen her older sister so compliant or willing to follow anyone's orders - even as a very small child, Bellatrix had been stubborn and unwilling to listen to their parents, their instructors or professors, or anyone else who tried to give her an order. Had they not been in such notable company, Narcissa might have teased Bellatrix for it, for Bellatrix had always said that there was no one who was worthy of her obedience. But then, the Dark Lord was _of course_ worthy of her obedience - and more; her loyalty, her undying faith... so it was often said about the Dark Lord. He was a commanding man, an important man, one who every man and woman should yield to, for their own safety as well as for the greater good.

"Your sister is beautiful, Bellatrix," the Dark Lord commented, and Narcissa almost answered to accept the compliment, but he was not looking her in the eye, and he was not addressing her. He was appraising her as if she was a piece of meat or a fine dress in a market, and he was considering purchasing her. It made her most uncomfortable.

"As beautiful as I am, my Lord?" Bellatrix's voice had fallen to a low, slightly sensual whisper, and Narcissa looked sharply at her. She leaned towards the Dark Lord, looking rapt.

"Quite as beautiful as you, yes." His tone was as detached as ever – there was nothing about it that seemed to indicate that he found beauty a particularly interesting or important quality. "In both your cases, the purity of your blood grants you something…"

Bellatrix made a small noise that was almost a moan. "Does she _please_ you, my Lord?"

Narcissa's impression of being purchased intensified. _Does she please you_ was something that one might ask a man seeking a prostitute. She was not a prostitute. She was nothing of the sort.

"She does," the Dark Lord said, inclining his head, then added, "and she pleased _you_. What pleases you pleases me, Bella, at least in this matter."

Bellatrix ran her tongue around her lips, looking back and forth between Narcissa and the Dark Lord. "May we..."

"May we _what_?" Narcissa burst out. She was tired of being kept in the dark, for no matter what was said, she always felt as if she was not being told the whole truth. She could see that Bellatrix and the Dark Lord were _involved_ - that was obvious enough. But she couldn't tell why she had been brought here, or what was so special about the Dark Lord besides his position that made Bellatrix so adore him. She had a sinking feeling, a sneaking suspicion about what she might be here to do, but she dared not voice it or even believe it, even recognize it fully in her own mind. The idea was too distressing.

But Bellatrix took away any choice she might have had about what she could acknowledge.

"May we go to bed?" Bellatrix said. Narcissa felt as if she would shrivel up and die of humiliation on the spot - how could her sister ask such a question? Even for Bellatrix, ever bold as she was, that was a question that was best insinuated rather than stated outright. There was a difference between being bold and simply being crude.

The Dark Lord did not seem to think it crude. He chucked softly, and though he sounded quite mirthless to Narcissa, he also didn't sound dangerous, and Bellatrix seemed neither humiliated nor distressed.

"I do not know if your sister expected you to ask that, Bellatrix," he commented, casting a pointed glance at Narcissa. "I do believe that she is somewhat disturbed by you asking so directly. A shy young lady, is she not?"

"A bit shy at first appearance," said Bellatrix. She waved a hand through the air, waving away Narcissa's shyness. "She's a Black inside, and bold as I am when she becomes comfortable."

Narcissa wanted to protest, but she didn't know what to say. She pressed her lips together and gave Bellatrix a stern glare instead.

The Dark Lord kept his eyes unwaveringly on Narcissa. She tried to avoid them at first, but she could feel his stare burning into her, so confident and without any sort of distraction, and at last, she looked back, and raised her chin defiantly. It was the posture that her mother had taught her to use whenever she was unsure of herself. It was remarkable, Druella had always said, how one could pretend to be commanding simply by looking it.

He did not seem fooled by Narcissa's front of bravery. The corner of his lips twitched up, but he did not really smile, and at last he said in a low voice, "I do believe that we should go to bed, yes."

Narcissa broke the gaze between them and looked sharply at Bellatrix, who looked absolutely ecstatic. She rose swiftly and took Narcissa's arm, pulling her out of her seat. Narcissa could practically hear her sister's excitement humming in the air, and there was a small part of her that found it infectious, though a much larger part of her was stiff with nerves. Bellatrix put her arms about her sister and rested her chin on her shoulder so she could whisper in her ear. "You were nervous the first time with Rodolphus too."

Narcissa quivered. The Dark Lord was watching them intently, observing them in such a way that she could only imagine he was taking in every aspect of their postures, their bodies and intimacy. Rodolphus never scrutinized them like that – he was always too eager to hurry into lovemaking.

Did Bellatrix enjoy this – this being looked at? Did the Dark Lord treat her in such a way when they were alone, or was it only because she was with her sister? The way they had spoken before had indicated some measure of mutual respect – not the conversation that would have been had between a man and a whore.

Bellatrix kissed Narcissa, and she focussed on that, even when she felt cool and unfamiliar hands brush against her hips. If she kept her mind on her sister, she could alleviate the nerves induced by this man – this _stranger_ – who she was allowing to touch her.

When Bellatrix broke away after a few moments and leaned past Narcissa to kiss the Dark Lord – a wanton and heated kiss – Narcissa resisted the urge to avert her eyes. She dared herself not to look away, and the longer she watched, the less frightening it became. The Dark Lord was very different from Rodolphus. He barely moved, barely seemed to show his reaction – all the passion in the kiss was from Bellatrix – but Narcissa could sense his pleasure from little things like the way his hand tightened on her hip, and from even more obscure and inexplicable cues that she thought based more on her intuition than any physical behaviour. And there was something most exciting about a man so in control of himself. Rodolphus was rough and over-passionate at many times, and while Narcissa had always taken that for granted as the way men were supposed to behave, the Dark Lord's collected appearance made a fairly fascinating change.

Oh _dear_, Rodolphus…

Narcissa's stomach knotted with sudden guilt. She and Bellatrix should have been with Rodolphus. He had done nothing wrong, and this – this was near to adultery. What Bellatrix was doing was _certainly_ adultery, and it became ever clearer as her hands moved to rest upon the Dark Lord's shoulders, then his chest. Narcissa was not married, but she was as good as; Rodolphus had always treated her as a wife.

Bellatrix reached over and caught a hank of her hair, pulling her closer against them. Narcissa was pressed between their bodies – her usual position – and Bellatrix breathed, "Are you going to join in, Cissy, or are you just going to stand here?"

"Rodolphus–" Narcissa began, and Bellatrix silenced her by kissing her.

"Don't think about Rodolphus," she told her in a breathless whisper. "You're already here. What do you have to lose by finishing what's already started?"

It wasn't a compelling argument. Narcissa wanted to say _no_, she would not _finish what was started_ simply because she was already in the Dark Lord's home; she was not required or in any way compelled to stay…

"Don't leave," the Dark Lord said quietly.

It was not a request. He wasn't begging her or pleading with her – indeed, he didn't sound invested in the matter in the slightest. It was simply an order. A plain, clearly stated order, and while Narcissa could argue with her sister's wheedling, she didn't know what to say to a command like that, and furthermore…

There _was_ something attractive about a man who gave orders. Demands from Rodolphus were always tinged with the slightest uncertainty, always closer to requests. Bellatrix was the one who told people to do things in such a way that it was impossible to argue. Narcissa had never known anyone else to speak so simply and with such command, such assurance that no one would dare to defy…

She supposed that it couldn't do _very_ much harm if she were to stay but a little while longer. After all, Rodolphus would never have to know.

)O(

_Fin_


End file.
